NYCC 08: STAN ON STAN PANEL

[MichaelDoran]

by Vaneta Rogers

At today's "Stan on Stan" panel, Stan Lee confirmed what was already reported on Blog@Newsarama last night: The legendary creator will team with Virgin Comics to create a line of superhero comics for the publisher.

The new universe will initially be anchored around a team of 10 superheroes of various backgrounds and origins.

Lee arrived a little late to the panel to a standing-room-only crowd of fans and media representatives, cameras flashing as he entered the room and nodded to the crowd.

The CEO of Virgin Comics, Sharad Devarajan, introduced Lee and announced the venture. "We are proud to announce that the best is yet to come and to welcome Stan to Virgin Comics," he said.

Devarajan then sat down with Lee to ask him some questions, playing the straight man to Lee's ever-present wit. In fact, the first thing Devarajan asked Lee to talk about was the excitement he feels about working with Virgin Comics on a new batch of superheroes, to which Lee replied: "Who said I'm excited?"

"No, this is actually one of the most exciting things to happen to me," Lee said. "To get a chance to start over again doing what I did years ago."

He compared his days at Marvel, when he had very little money, to what he'll be doing now at Virgin. "It's Virgin! They have nothing but money! I mean, look at the way this man is dressed!" Lee said, pointing toward a well-dressed Devarajan.

But Lee pointed out that because of the money behind Virgin Comics, they "can hire the best artists, the best writers. Then they can do the work, I can take the credit, so why wouldn't I be excited?" he said.

"I've been walking the streets waiting for someone to make me this offer for years!" Lee laughed.

Lee said his team of writers and artists are "going to do things you haven't seen before; we're going to do them in a way you haven't seen before."

"It's Virgin!" he said again, emphasizing that the budget will be there for these new superheroes because of the size of the Virgin name.

"They have their own airline! All I ask is that I get my own private airplane. That's not much to ask," he said, turning toward Devajaran. "If you'd like, this hasn't been done this way before, but we can negotiate it right here in public."

Devarajan offered to put Stan Lee on the side of one of their planes, which fans enthusiastically supported.

Lee was then asked to explain how he'd be working with Virgin similarly to how he worked at Marvel -- something he called the "Marvel method."

"What I used to do is come up with the idea for the characters, come up with the idea for the story," he explained. "Then I'd talk to the artist, whether it was Jack Kirby or John Romita or whoever it was... and I'd say here's the story I want you to tell, and they would draw it.

"Sometimes there were drawings on the page that I didn't know what they were," he laughed, but said that's what "made it great!"

"That's probably the way we'll work here. The people I'm working with here are probably a lot more creative than I am, but that's OK. I'll take the credit," he said. "And with your help, I'll get that airplane."

Devarajan talked about the way that the characters at Marvel when Lee was editor resonated with the public and addressed social issues of the times. But in Stan Lee fashion, he avoided taking himself too seriously when he was asked to comment on that statement.

"Obviously you all thought these were just comic strips I was writing, but I was trying to affect society worldwide," Lee joked. "I'm actually a world-reknowned scientist."

He then talked about how Superman flies without any scientific explanation, while he wanted characters like Thor to have a reason for flying, something that got the crowd laughing again. "He carries a hammer!" Lee said to raucous laughs from the audience. "He twirls that hammer as fast as a propellor and he lets it go. Now he's attached to it. So it brings him along...

"Science!" he said.

Lee said, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, that he hopes to bring the same type of scientific and social relevance to his work at Virgin. "As this becomes a better world, psychologist and psychiatrists around the world will be saying, 'God bless Virgin Comics.'"

After the fans were invited to ask questions, someone asked what Lee thought of the changes that have occurred to Spider-Man's character in One More Day and the new Brand New Day stories.

"The funny thing is, I don't really have much time to read the comics anymore, but I am aware of what has happened with Spider-Man," Lee said, this time obviously becoming more serious. Lee said Marvel E-i-C Joe Quesada is "a very talented guy, and he knows that you can't keep a character the same because people get bored."

Lee pointed out that when he was at Marvel and they decided to let Spider-Man get married, they got complaints from fans "for months! My guess is the same thing will happen here. Eventually, readers will accept it."

Then he pointed out that if sales stay high on the series and get even better as a result of the changes in Spider-Man's marital status, then Quesada "will have made the right choice. If the sales slump, he'll marry him again."

Becoming less serious, Lee said that's what editors can do -- they can kill and bring characters back to life just "like God. A lot of people wonder why I seem power mad -- that's the reason!" he said.

When asked which character was his favorite, Lee said "everyone expects me to say Spider-man because he's the most popular one. He's the most famous. But I love all of them." He then mentioned Silver Surfer and Thor and a list of other Marvel characters to cheers from the crowd for their various favorites. Ever the salesman, Lee added, "and I'll love the ones I'll create for Virgin Comics!"

Lee was asked if he can share a name of or anything about a superhero he's creating for Virgin. "I have about a hundred ideas percolating," he said, repeating that he will share those ideas with the writers and artists on the team putting together the comics. "And after they finish laughing at me and arrive at something, the next time we get together, I can tell you what our characters are."

Asked if he's got a cameo in the new Hulk movie, Lee said, "I've already done my cameo in the new Incredible Hulk!"

After the crowd again cheered, Lee said: "The producers have finally gotten wise. They realize that's the reason people go to the movies.

"Wait 'til I tell you what I did in Iron Man. Wow!" he added.

Lee then encouraged people to let movie producers know that he isn't limited to movies about Marvel characters. He'll do cameos for whatever movie wants him. "I haven't told him this," Lee added, pointing toward Devarajan, "but part of our deal is I have to be in every Virgin movie."

One fan asked Lee to say his trademark Excelsior line, and after Lee asked for complete silence (which he received immediately), he said, "Excelsior!" to the enthusiastic reaction of the crowd.

When asked which movies about his characters Lee liked the best, he said, "The two best, and I think everyone will agree, were the X-Men and Spider-Man."

Lee explained that he has "nothing really to do with the movies. They give me a cameo to shut me up." Then he said he doesn't really want to know what's going to happen in the movie. "It's more fun to me to see the movies and not know what to expect," he added.

Lee said he thought the first movie based on Hulk was a bit of an experiement, which he admitted "didn't work out," but he said they're going to get it right the next time.

Lee was asked, who are the artists and writers who inspire you?

"I hate answering that question because I'll leave somebody out and they'll never speak to me," he said. He pointed out that he's really impressed by the level of writers who are coming into comics books, including Hollywood writers and novelists. Then he talked about how comic book artists today are some of the best illustrators in the world. "You get somebody like an Alex Ross, I mean this guy is beyond comics books -- he's a great illustrator," Lee said.

He then named Jim Lee. "I just think of him because I was just talking to him," he said. "He always calls himself my illegitimate son."

Lee said people used to look down their nose at comics, and some still do now. He said when he encounters some who says, "Oh, it's just comics," he says to them: "Suppose Shakespeare and Michaelangelo were alive today and Michaelangelo said, 'Hey Bill! Let's do a comic book!,' would anybody say, 'Eh, it's just a comic book?'"

He said his point is that comic books are just as respectable and viable an art form as "anything else."

Asked again about movies, Lee mentioned his cameo in Mall Rats. "I don't want to say I'm a jinx, but Mall Rats was the only movie Kevin did that didn't make him any money. He didn't hire me again," he said.

Lee was then asked to comment on the legal victory that the Siegels recently had concerning the creation of Superman. Lee said he doesn't know the details of the legal decision, but "I think anything where the creators can get more recognition and more money and more ownership is a wonderful thing, obviously."

Lee then turned to Devarajan and said, "I haven't told you this, but once we get settled, you're not only dealing with me, but I have 12 lawyers you'll have to deal with too"

Devarajan said, "That's his real superteam."

Another audience member asked if readers could ever see a Virgin-Marvel crossover. Lee said he'd love to do it. "Knowing Quesada, the chances are they'd love it too," he said, adding that he remembers doing the Superman and Spider-Man crossover with DC when he was editor. "The biggest problem was whose name to put first. I argued with them for weeks."

Lee was asked what he thought of the Japanese manga invasion. "We're actually working on a project with a Japanese company now," he said, adding that he can't talk about it yet.

As for his personal preferences when it comes to manga, "you either like it or you hate it. I haven't made up my mind yet," he said with a laugh.

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[Omega Flyer]

Lord how i'd love to meet Stan Lee, such a legend and a genuinely nice person. His recent works may not exactly thrill me but this industry is all the better as long as he's around.

[SMARTASS8]

Stan Lee would have made a great politician. Even when he's trying to sell you something, he comes off as someone likable who you wouldn't mind sharing a beer with. I'm not saying he's a saint, but I don't think there has ever been someone involved in comics as charismatic as Stan Lee.